A TOP CNN news executive being forced to resign over remarks about US soldiers killing journalists in Iraq has highlighted the growing power of internet bloggers in American public life.

Eason Jordan, CNN’s chief news executive, resigned on Friday night after being pounded for days by bloggers, “citizen journalists” who publish their own web logs, for reportedly saying at an international conference that US soldiers had targeted 12 journalists killed in Iraq.

Mr Jordan’s demise comes after the humiliation heaped upon the veteran CBS anchorman Dan Rather after bloggers quickly exposed flaws in National Guard documents that he used in making allegations about President Bush’s Vietnam-era military service. Mr Rather was forced to retract the 60 Minutes story in September and will step down as CBS News anchor next month.

The key to the fall of both men, many analysts believe, is that without being exposed by the lightning-quick and unregulated “blogosphere”, they probably would have escaped unscathed. The mainstream media, instinctively more reluctant to attack one of its own, may well not have questioned the authenticity of the CBS documents. And without the online fury that greeted Mr Jordan’s alleged comments, the story would probably have quickly disappeared.

During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, on January 27, Mr Jordan, according to witnesses, said that he believed the US military had aimed at journalists and killed 12 of them. It is unclear what words he actually used because the forum organisers, who videotaped the discussion, have refused to release it or provide a transcript.

But after the mainstream media ignored the controversy, a blogger reported it on his website. It was rapidly picked up across the internet, by conservative and liberal bloggers, forcing the story into the mainstream press last week. Although Mr Jordan denied the accusations, he resigned, he said, to avoid CNN being “unfairly tarnished”.

The power and influence of blogs first became apparent last year when Howard Dean, the former Democrat presidential contender, embraced them early in his campaign, so allowing his supporters across America to talk about his campaign and providing links to make donations over the internet.

Time magazine even named its first Blog of the Year in December, crediting the Power Line blog, founded by three conservative lawyers to challenge news coverage by mainstream media, for questioning the authenticity of the documents used by Mr Rather in his erroneous report.

Power Line now has a daily readership of 50,000. Talking Points Memo, an influential liberal blog, claimed almost 3.5 million readers at the height of the presidential election season last autumn. Together, these two blogs have a larger circulation than many established American newspapers.

According to a recent poll of internet users by Pew Internet and American Life Project Survey, more than eight million internet users have created blogs. Four million view at least one blog each day.

Mike Cornfield, a Pew researcher, said that last year bloggers kept alive some stories that might otherwise have disappeared, including Dr Dean’s infamous “Iowa scream”, and the mysterious bulge visible in President Bush’s jacket during his first debate against John Kerry.

Analysts believe that there are only 100 influential blogs, of which just 20 concentrate on news and politics.

“What blogs do is create a buzz,” Mr Cornfield said.

Times Recommends

• Anti-Iran wave sweeps Iraq over disputed oil well
• Comic strip promises young Kenyans fresh outlook
• ‘Ceausescu looked in my eyes, and he knew that he was going to die’